HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-05-29 - City Commission Strategic Planning Retreat Meeting Minutes1
CITY COMMISSION STRATEGIC PLANNING RETREAT
MAY 29, 2003
WOODMONT COUNTRY CLUB
Mayor Schreiber called the Commission Strategic Planning Retreat to order on
Thursday, May 29, 2003, at 9:20 a.m. in Woodmont Country Club, Tamarac, FL.
PRESENT: Mayor Joe Schreiber
Vice Mayor Karen L. Roberts
Commissioner Edward C. Portner
Commissioner Beth Flansbaum-Talabisco
Commissioner Marc L. Sultanof
City Manager Jeffrey L. Miller
City Attorney Mitchell S. Kraft
Assistant City Manager Michael C. Cernech
Assistant City Attorney Vanessa T. Steinerts
Assistant to the City Manager Diane Phillips
Fire Chief Jim Budzinski
BSO Chief Ken Dugger
Human Resources Director Maria Swanson
Utilities Director Ray Gagnon
Finance Director Dona Newman
Parks and Recreation Director Kathie Margoles
IT Director Levent Sucuoglu
Assistant Director of Utilities John Doherty
Community Development Director Chris King
Building Official Gary B. Jones
Public Information Officer Lucy Crockett
Special Projects Coordinator Kim Perron
City Clerk Marion Swenson
City Manager Miller gave an introductory presentation on projects in progress,
new recommendations, and highlights of the past year. Commissioner Portner
asked what innovations in the past year were a part of the FCCMA Award, and
City Manager Miller said the application included a comprehensive look at the
entire City; among other things, how we communicate, e-government, payment
of water bills via internet, Tam -A -Gram for external communications and Sundial
for internal communications. Commissioner Sultanof asked how long the website
has been up and the public's response to it. IT Director Sucuoglu said about 2-3
weeks and he has gotten many compliments on it. Mayor Schreiber asked how
many hits we have gotten, and Vice Mayor Roberts said if a City computer uses
the web page as its home page then the hits are not accurate. IT Director
Sucuoglu replied that a new tracking system is being used for accurate counts of
hits.
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City Manager Miller reviewed last year's priorities. Commissioner Sultanof asked
what properties border the Caporella property and City Manager Miller
responded that the west side is commercially zoned property, but the Caporella
property is surrounded by canals. Commissioner Partner asked if there is
existing open space east or west of 441, and Community Development Director
King said there are several vacant sites on Commercial Boulevard west of
University Drive but nothing that is zoned open space; however, that does not
mean the zoning could not be changed.
City Manager Miller said the 571h Street Feasibility Study is close to being
completed and the Public Service Complex is on schedule and within budget.
Assistant City Manager Cernech spoke about the road resurfacing program.
Chief Budzinski spoke about the Fire Department. Utilities Director Gagnon
spoke about the Utilities Department. Commissioner Portner asked what SCADA
stands for and Utilities Director Gagnon said Supervisory Control and Data
Acquisition. Parks and Recreation Director Margoles spoke about the Parks and
Recreation Department. Human Resources Director Swanson spoke about
Human Resources and Risk Management. Mayor Schreiber asked about the
basis for job openings and Human Resources Director Swanson explained the
various reasons people move on to positions in other companies.
Community Development Director King spoke about the Community
Development Department. Vice Mayor Roberts asked if the 500 new home
figure is inclusive of the apartment complexes and Community Development
Director King said it did not. Commissioner Sultanof asked if consideration had
been given to projections of new employees in the commerce park perhaps
moving to Tamarac and the impact on the schools, to which Community
Development Director King replied a study was done about 4-5 years ago. Vice
Mayor Roberts asked how many new home buyer loans were given under the
SHIP program and the number of foreclosures that resulted. Community
Development Director King said there were about 15-20 first-time buyer loans
given out with only a handful of foreclosures.
The workshop meeting recessed at 10:15 a.m. and reconvened at 10:30 a.m.
with all present as before.
Community Development Director King gave a presentation on the 57t" Street
Main Street Project and introduced Paul Lambert and Eric Liff of Lambert
Advisory as well as Chris Brown of Civic Design Associates. Mr. Brown gave a
presentation and said there had been no input from city staff for the study; it was
totally unbiased. There was discussion about mixed uses, promenades,
lifestyles, existing developments, community facilities, and commercial and
residential areas. Mr. Brown said the commercial aspect of the town center must
be supported by residential. There was discussion of the successes and failures
of other downtown areas in other cities. Commissioner Sultanof said he
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envisioned a promenade where people could walk and with gazebos where they
could rest. Mr. Liff spoke of upscale restaurants and the fact that an upscale
restaurant would come to a town center, but would not open on a stand alone lot.
Commissioner Portner asked for a definition of a boulevard entrance and Mr.
Brown said it would have a median, would be a dramatic entrance and well lit.
Commissioner Sultanof said he wanted people to become familiar with the center
of the City — the community center and library. Vice Mayor Roberts said she did
not want the town center on a developer's property where the pool and multi-
family housing would be placed. Commissioner Partner asked if consideration
had been given to moving City Hall to the town center, and Mr. Brown said it is
his belief that Tamarac is beginning to establish a cultural corridor at 571" Street
and Commercial Boulevard, and it would not be a bad idea in the future to have
the town hall there also. If that is to come to pass, now may be the time to
secure the site. Mr. Lambert said it is traditional to have institutional owners in
the core of the town center. Commissioner Portner said he believed City Hall
would bring business to the area. Commissioner Sultanof said he did not feel
moving City Hall to the cultural area was a good move. Mr. Brown spoke about
bike lanes and on -street parking. Commissioner Sultanof asked if he
recommended metered parking and Mr. Brown said he recommended parking
management. There was discussion about demographics as well as discussion
about funding the improvements, and Commissioner Sultanof asked about
federal money. Mr. Brown said it would come out of the Department of
Transportation and must be transit related. If there is a park and ride aspect to it,
DOT may be interested. Commissioner Sultanof spoke about tapping into the
postal system as their trucks use our roads.
City Manager Miller said the purpose of this presentation today is to see whether
the main street project is viable. The consultants said it is and there is a good
mix of commercial and residential. Over time if we stage things properly we can
have a successful downtown. City Manager Miller asked if the Commission
would like staff to move to the next phase of the project and refine the ideas and
come back with more development scenarios. There was discussion about the
final dollar figure, and City Manager Miller said we do not have a final cost, but
some of the costs could be put off onto the developers, perhaps through special
assessments. Vice Mayor Roberts said she was concerned that too much effort
was being put into the Caporella property. Mayor Schreiber said development
will be predicated on what the Commission wants. There was no objection from
the Commission to moving to the next phase.
The meeting recessed at 12:00 p.m. and reconvened at 1:15 p.m. with all present
as before.
IT Director Sucuoglu gave a demonstration of the new website. Commissioner
Sultanof asked if Tamarac is paying for the website and IT Director Sucuoglu
said we are maintaining it ourselves. Commissioner Portner asked how the
public is being made aware of the website and IT Director Sucuoglu said it will be
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brought to the public's attention in the Tam -A -Gram, and through water bills, etc.
IT Director Sucuoglu said the website address is also on the back of all City
vehicles, in City publications and on the letterhead. Commissioner Sultanof
asked if passports were included in the City Clerk's website and IT Director
Sucuoglu said that information was included, and all the departments have an
incredible amount of information on the website. Vice Mayor Roberts asked
about security for customers paying by credit card and IT Director Sucuoglu said
security is always a concern; internal security is a firewall and we also use
Industry Standard Services, which is provided by Verisign Company,
Commissioner Sultanof asked if a bank requests a PIN number if it shows up as
**** or the actual number, and IT Director Sucuoglu said it shows up as ****. IT
Director Sucuoglu spoke of the links to other services not provided by the City
and new programs that will be added to the website.
City Manager Miller spoke about plan modifications in the strategic plan. Mayor
Schreiber said regarding Gateway Park, several persons told him they would
rather not have benches there as the benches attract derelicts. Mayor Schreiber
asked why it is taking so long for a small park. Parks and Recreation Director
Margoles said it should be ready in about a year. Mayor Schreiber questioned
the public art scheduled for the park and Parks and Recreation Director Margoles
said it had not been decided upon yet. Commissioner Sultanof asked if we are
obligated to move forward with Gateway Park because of grant funding and
Parks and Recreation Director Margoles replied there are no grant funds involved
with this park.
Parks and Recreation Director Margoles spoke about the bikeway system
feasibility study. Vice Mayor Roberts said the $75,000 for the feasibility study
could be used for other things and questioned the need for the bikeway system.
Parks and Recreation Director Margoles said there is a desire on the part of the
residents for this access; however there may be other items with a higher priority.
Commissioner Portner asked if federal funds are available and Special Projects
Coordinator Perron said the feasibility study is not eligible for federal funding but
construction of the bike path is. Commissioner Sultanof spoke of Broward
County greenways funding and using some of that money; and Special Projects
Coordinator Perron said Broward County would work on their own bikeway
master plan, which would include Pine Island Road and Nob Hill Road; however,
it does not include the types of bikeways Parks and Recreation Director Margoles
is talking about on Tamarac Streets. Mayor Schreiber said before contracting for
a feasibility study he wanted to make sure there is a demand in the City for this.
Commissioner Portner said every city he visited is investing in bike systems and
there is a demand for bikeways. Commissioner Sultanof explained the fact that
younger people are moving into the City; there is more bike traffic and we do not
have a system for young people on bikes. City Manager Miller explained that if
this is approved it does not mean we are approving $75,000, but if the City
Commission thinks it is a worthy idea it will be put into the strategic plan, which is
a 5-year plan, and during this time we will try to get grant funding for it. It will not
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be paid for out of the general fund revenues. There was discussion about putting
the bikeway feasibility study into the street plan. Mayor Schreiber asked for an
expression of interest and all were in agreement.
Parks and Recreation Director Margoles spoke about a children's' water play
area for the aquatic center. Mayor Schreiber asked for an expression of interest
in adding this to the strategic plan and all were in agreement.
Utilities Director Gagnon spoke of water storage tank and pump replacement and
Vice Mayor Roberts asked the cost. Utilities Director Gagnon responded $2.6
million and said it was included in the rate study and the City hopes to bond
some of the funding. Mayor Schreiber asked for an expression of interest to add
this to the strategic plan and all were in agreement.
Utilities Director Gagnon spoke about changing I & I to Sewer Rehabilitation and
there was no opposition to this.
Building Official Jones spoke about implementation of a Special Master which is
already included in the Code. Mayor Schreiber asked for an expression of
interest and all were in agreement.
Human Resources Director Swanson spoke about reviewing the classification
and compensation plan to allow for review of all positions in the City with the
exception of firefighters, whose contract negotiations will begin this summer.
Vice Mayor Roberts spoke about the various funds requested for feasibility
studies and asked where the money would come from. Human Resources
Director Swanson said this needs to be an independent review by an outside
source. Mayor Schreiber asked for an expression of interest to add this to the
strategic plan and all were in agreement.
Finance Director Newman spoke about new financial policies and procedures,
and said there is no funding tied to this, but policies would be developed on how
we spend money. Mayor Schreiber asked for an expression of interest to add
this to the strategic plan and all were in agreement.
City Manager Miller asked if there were any questions relative to the draft
strategic plan that had been handed out. Commissioner Portner asked about
demolishing and redeveloping Southgate Boulevard for Southgate Park and City
Manager Miller said it is going from a 4-lane road to a curving 2-lane road. Staff
suggests rather than using ad valorem funds to use bond funds from the road
program. Commissioner Portner asked if incremental annual operating and
maintenance costs of $77,000 were included in the budget and City Manager
Miller spoke of maintenance costs involved any time a capital facility is built, and
at some time it will be built into the budget. Mayor Schreiber asked how those
numbers were arrived at, and Special Projects Coordinator Perron said they are
estimates at this time. Commissioner Sultanof asked if there are fees attached to
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the use of the park, and Parks and Recreation Director Margoles said other than
perhaps use of the picnic shelters, no. Vice Mayor Roberts questioned the
difference in cost of picnic shelters and play areas between McNab Park and
Southgate Park and Special Projects Coordinator Perron said the original
conceptual design for Southgate was for three picnic areas; new numbers will be
generated from Parks and Recreation now that the design is ready.
Commissioner Portner questioned the stormwater fee increase and asked if it
would accommodate the additional $4.5 million. Assistant City Manager Cernech
said between the accumulation of cash and debt that will be issued, the City will
have to borrow $3 million to build additional stormwater stations.
City Manager Miller spoke about current priorities.
Mayor Schreiber said a facilitator was hired several years ago to get ideas from
the Commission as to the direction they wanted the City to move and determine
the Commission's desires for the next three years. Mayor Schreiber said it was a
very successful session and he recommended doing it again. The facilitator's
name was Dr. Mathes. Vice Mayor Roberts was in agreement with Mayor
Schreiber. Commissioner Sultanof congratulated the staff and said the
Commission sets ideas/projects into motion and the staff augments them.
Accomplishments so far are phenomenal and Tamarac is on the move.
Commissioner Portner said all the projects discussed today are ongoing except
the Main Street Project, and he feels that Main Street is the most important
project. It is a 10-15 year program and the sooner we start the sooner Tamarac
will become a `city'. Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco said other consultant
fees were not looked upon favorably by the Commission; however she is in favor
of this. Mayor Schreiber asked for an expression of interest in hiring Dr. Mathes
or someone of his ilk. All were in agreement. City Manager Miller said he would
schedule a session for the City Commissioners.
City Manager Miller asked for an expression of interest to add the
aforementioned goals for this year to the strategic plan and move forward in
constructing the budget. All were in agreement.
The Commission suggested scheduling Dr. Mathes for the fall.
There being no further discussion, Mayor Schreiber adjourned the workshop at
3:05 p.m.
MARION SWENSON, CMC
CITY CLERK
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